Category : Pig Care
February 1, 2022
Canada develops plan to market hogs during ASF outbreak
Efforts are underway in Canada to develop an ASF-Free Compartments strategy allowing farms to market hogs in the event of ...
January 20, 2022
Start with the gilt-development unit for Mhp elimination
US pig producers have made a big push to eliminate Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) from their herds as a way to ...
December 21, 2021
Johnson: Make your farm a biosecurity fortress
From the person doing the power washing to the owner of the farm business, everyone involved in a pork-production system ...
December 3, 2021
Managing Strep suis in commercial pig production
Most, if not all, pigs harbor some strains of Streptococcus suis (Strep suis). Lately, challenges by the bacteria appear to ...
September 11, 2021
New approaches to influenza control look promising
Influenza-A virus of swine (IAV-S) is a thorn in the side of US pork producers, and it’s a difficult thorn ...
August 19, 2021
Early identification critical in preventing sow lameness
Sow lameness continues to trouble hog operations in the US, causing high numbers of involuntary removals from herds. These expensive ...
August 9, 2021
Water: An often-overlooked factor in pig health
Water doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it is abundant, easy to access and inexpensive, but that will change ...
August 4, 2021
Tools for managing pigs without antibiotics
Raising pigs without antibiotics requires extra management and different tools compared to traditional commercial hog production, reports Laura Carroll, DVM, ...
July 20, 2021
Reducing PRRS outbreaks by using air filtration: What you need to know
Jeff Feder, DVM, with Swine Vet Center (SVC), has spent 15 years fine-tuning filtration systems in client hog barns. Today, ...
June 2, 2021
Combat seasonal infertility with strong husbandry
Seasonal infertility continues to be a widespread problem for sow herds across the US. And if you don’t have a ...
June 1, 2021
Connor: Innovation driven by necessity and opportunity
The pork industry has had a tremendous number of innovations over the years, said Joe Connor, DVM, in an interview ...
November 20, 2020
From veterinarian to forensic detective: Solving a mysterious swine disease
In fall 2019, a client called into Four Star Veterinary Service clinic in Mexico, Indiana, and reported the loss of ...
November 2, 2020
Client stress key factor in swine health programs
While their schooling focused on pigs, veterinarians on the job spend a lot of time working with clients and members ...
October 30, 2020
Three ways to assess your herd’s ‘positive welfare state’
The “Five Freedoms” have been the foundation for establishing sound animal welfare practices since they were developed by Britain’s Farm ...
October 14, 2020
Raising pigs without antibiotics offers niche market but with limitations
Markets for pork produced without antibiotics continue to grow. But this method of production is not for every farm, cautions ...
October 11, 2020
Decontamination protocols fail to disinfect incoming hog supplies
Biosecurity protocols are critical to keeping the US hog herd healthy, and one of the regular tasks is to disinfect ...
September 20, 2020
Pork industry makes progress on pain management
Pain management for pigs has always been a challenge, partly because it’s difficult to measure levels of pain and partly ...
August 3, 2020
‘Controlled colonization’ builds immune response to bacterial pathogens
Bacterial pathogens like Streptococcus suis and Haemophilus parasuis continue to cause major issues for growing and adult pigs. Good solutions ...
August 1, 2020
Addressing ‘unknown factors’ in sow mortality
Sow mortality has been on the rise in the US pork industry, reaching upwards of 15% in many sow-production systems, ...
May 20, 2020
Inadequate iron supplements cause subclinical anemia in weaned pigs
The standard 200 mg iron shot for baby pigs at processing may not be enough iron to last until weaning. ...
March 16, 2020
Grow-finish mortalities require fast action followed by prevention plan
Nothing grabs the attention of a grow-finish unit and its veterinarian faster than an uptick in mortalities.
“Grow-finish mortality is one ...
February 20, 2020
Ellis: No magic bullet to reduce pre-wean mortality
Pre-wean mortality has increased over the last 15 years, and it’s a major concern for US pork producers and veterinarians. ...
February 12, 2020
Deen: Apply old lessons to new technologies
Classical education emphasizes the need for industries to adopt new technologies to keep up with external demands and constantly changing ...
February 5, 2020
Connor: Disease elimination can lower the cost of production
Watch the full interview or each part separately
Full interview: Disease elimination can lower the cost of production
Part 1: PED, deltacoronavirus, ...
February 3, 2020
Lowering pre-wean mortality starts at day 1
Pre-wean mortality continues to be a challenge to producers across the industry as genetic improvements allow sows to be more ...
December 23, 2019
Comprehensive, data-driven approach to lower wean-finish mortality
Identifying the source of wean-to-finish mortality can be a challenge, since factors affecting that stage of production may have originated ...
November 25, 2019
Fogging helps establish Day 0 for M. hyo elimination
Maintaining a healthy herd takes time, energy and constant emphasis on biosecurity, Amy Maschhoff, DVM, told Pig Health Today. She ...
November 3, 2019
Sow pads show promise for reducing shoulder sores, related infections
Everyone needs a good bed — and apparently sows are no exception.
During farrowing and lactation, sows can easily develop shoulder sores, ...
September 26, 2019
Feed, water, air and comfort: Keys to prevent tail biting
Tail biting in pigs remains something of a mystery. What triggers a pig or pigs to bite tails? Why do ...
August 30, 2019
Carthage swine veterinarian: Focus on individual pig care can benefit entire production system
Taking care of every single pig seems like a daunting task when producers have hundreds or thousands of pigs under ...
August 29, 2019
Pipestone nutritionist highlights advancements to improve pig health
Producers know that if a pig has good gut health in the nursery, it’s more likely to get off to ...
August 26, 2019
Phase I of pelvic organ prolapse study offers new insights
A pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a dramatic, easy-to-identify event within the farrowing room. The difficult part is figuring out ...
August 14, 2019
Smithfield veterinarian aims to connect dots on animal welfare
Animal welfare can mean different things to different people. For Mary Battrell, DVM, a swine veterinarian for Smithfield Foods, animal ...
June 17, 2019
Davies: Focus on optimizing antibiotic use, not volume
The US pork industry has a good track record for using antibiotics responsibly, but how should it be graded for ...
May 13, 2019
Picking your battles is key to biosecurity success
Biosecurity is one of those on-farm topics that gets a lot of time and attention, but it can easily fall ...
May 2, 2019
Reducing stress can aid pig health, performance
Pigs can get stressed, just like people, and the impact can be just as serious. Stress is caused by any ...
April 8, 2019
Multiple infections? It’s important to get to the root cause
Disease management can be challenging. You go through the barns and see pigs coughing, or maybe you see lethargic pigs ...
March 27, 2019
Action plan, training keys to humane euthanasia of pigs
A critical part of humane animal care on pig farms is responsible and timely euthanasia. However, identifying individuals for the ...
March 25, 2019
Inflammation, stress put pressure on sow longevity
Sow longevity is no longer a given in US swine herds. In recent years, producers have focused on pigs per ...
February 27, 2019
Why sows leave the herd: Biological priorities and productivity
When it comes to sow productivity, culling and mortality issues, “the simple answer is there’s no simple answer,” John Deen, ...
January 30, 2019
Managing pain, Strep suis infection in baby pigs critical for welfare
The US pork industry has demonstrated high standards for animal welfare, but there is still much to learn about mitigating ...
January 16, 2019
Nerem: Shift focus to responsible antibiotic use, not arbitrary reductions
Some retailers and foodservice companies are asking for animals that have never received antibiotics (“no antibiotics ever” or NAE), but ...
December 19, 2018
Tyson VP: ‘Antibiotic issue is far from black and white’
Producer and consumer choice are equally important when it comes to producing quality pork products — and it’s important not ...
December 5, 2018
Pork industry needs to balance animal well-being with antibiotic pressures
After 37 years of swine veterinary practice, John Baker, DVM, Boonville, Indiana, sees producers and veterinarians entering a new era ...
November 28, 2018
Scientist ‘pops the hood’ on US pork industry’s newest vaccine for PCV2
What is “cell-mediated immunity” and how does it affect vaccine performance? Are two PCV2 genotypes necessarily better than one? And ...
November 26, 2018
Good nutrition, management can’t replace antibiotics, but they can help reduce the need
Producers looking to raise pigs with little or no antibiotics should consider nutritional strategies that help pigs build more immunity, ...
November 5, 2018
See it, do it, teach it: Veterinarian offers tips for caregiver training
When you give someone something to read, the expressed competency level is about 10%.
When you talk to them on the ...
October 11, 2018
Strep suis resurfacing to challenge high-health herds
What’s old is new again — or at least that’s what some high-health herds are finding with Streptococcus suis (Strep suis). ...
July 12, 2018
2018 Leman Conference features ‘science-based solutions’ for pork production
Nearly a thousand swine veterinarians, producers and industry leaders from the US and 20 other countries are expected to attend ...
May 25, 2018
‘False alarms’ by Seneca Valley virus trigger costly FMD investigations
A growing number of Seneca Valley virus (SVV) outbreaks wastes the time and money of people who investigate suspected foreign ...
April 9, 2018
‘Coopetition’ healthy for pork industry
Teaming up to share ideas and troubleshoot swine-health issues can be good for pork producers and the industry, said Joel ...
April 7, 2018
Antibiotic stewardship: What can the pork industry learn from human medicine?
With so much attention being placed on antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance, animal agriculture can sometimes feel as if it’s ...
March 26, 2018
How close are we to having a Strep suis vaccine for pigs?
Although antibiotics provide a treatment option for Streptococcus suis — a common, widespread bacterium in swine — long-term management hinges ...
March 19, 2018
More planning required for feed medications in new VFD era
Planning, paperwork and prevention are the priorities on hog farms in response to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expanded ...
December 7, 2017
Pig care: If there’s something off, don’t try to ‘look him well’
Watching pigs may not be glamorous or stimulating, but it’s a responsibility that Bob Blomme, DVM, takes very seriously.
“We can ...
November 26, 2017
Yeske: Provide better pig care — one animal at a time
Taking time to walk the pens, make eye contact with each pig and pull the sick ones for individual care ...
